There has been news about the Daria spin-off Jodie around since late 2018, but not a ton in depth—that is, until a lot of news dropped yesterday. Now we know that the proposed “reboot” series has transformed from a show about both Daria Morgendorffer and her friend (kinda) Jodie Landon, to a series centered on Jodie, into its current and we assume final incarnation, an animated film focusing on Jodie.
The spin-off film from MTV Entertainment will focus on Jodie as a new college graduate who interns at a huge tech company called Firstfinity, according to Variety’s exclusive.
Actress Tracee Ellis Ross will be voicing Jodie. And while so far there is no news if Daria herself will be showing up, The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper will voice Mack, Jodie’s high school sweetheart from Daria. Arden Myrin will play Britney, our beloved Lawndale cheerleader who is now an influencer at Firstfinity. Hopefully, she has broken up with Kevin.
There is a character named Tiffany, but it is not clear if it is Tiffany from the original series. Also joining is Kal Pen as Sandeep, “another fellow intern who is a fitness-obsessed, tech bro.”
Vulture noted that this show will be the “first adult animated show starring a Black woman in 20 years” since BET’s Hey Monie! ended in 2003.
That is a depressing fact, but I am tentatively excited about all of this development for Jodie. It does make me a bit saddened that it doesn’t look like they tried to bring in any voice actors from the original series. Voice acting is a skill and putting celebrities in the roles doesn’t automatically make it more appealing, and it sucks to see professional voice actors get pushed out.
I love Daria and Jodie has been one of the most iconic Black animated characters for years. A film focused on her has a lot of possibilities. I have rewatched Daria recently and it still holds up (even if it lost all the great music from the original airing).
We will see if it ends up on MTV or Paramount+.
Variety has listed the remaining characters:
–Tracee Ellis Ross will play Jodie, the iconic character from “Daria.” Fresh from college graduation and full of ambition, Jodie heads to the big city for a prestigious internship at tech behemoth, Firstfinity.
–Pamela Adlon will play Jocelyn Light, the trailblazing VP of Internet Affairs at FirstFinity whom Jodie reveres.
–Cole Escola will play Ryan, Jodie’s intern friend at Firstfinity who is allergic to earnestness.
–Jojo T. Gibbs will play Tiffany, who has swag for weeks, lives in Jodie’s building and is Cas’ ex.
–William Jackson Harper will play Mack, Jodie’s witty and supportive high school sweetheart from the original “Daria” series.
–Zosia Mamet will play Greta, a beachy-waved, self-proclaimed empath and Jodie’s fellow intern at Firstfinity.
–Alex Moffat will play Barry, the overeager internship coordinator at Firstfinity who, despite being in his 50s, desperately tries to be Gen-Z cool.
–Dermot Mulroney will play Lionel, the powerful and charming CEO of Firstfinity.
–Arden Myrin will play Britney, the former Lawndale cheerleader from Daria turned influencer at FirstFinity.
–Kal Penn will play Sandeep, another fellow intern who is a fitness-obsessed, tech bro.
–Kofi Siriboe will play Raymond, Jodie’s incredibly handsome, but not-so-friendly supervisor at Firstfinity.
–Dulcé Sloan will play Cas, Jodie’s fun-loving best friend from college and new roommate. A finance genius and social butterfly, Cas plays as hard as she grinds.
–Helene Yorke will play Nia, Jodie’s brown-nosing, fellow intern who will do whatever it takes to get ahead.
The Queen of the Negros of Lawndale High shall return!
(via Variety, image: MTV)
